“What?” Eze said.

Obinna hushed Eze with a nudge. “Please, madam, my wife is waiting for us at home.”

“You are married?” The policewoman reared back slightly.

“Yes, madam.”

“Both of you?”

“Yes, madam, but my friend’s wife is in Abuja. He just came to Lagos for the birthday party today.”

“You don’t look married,” the policewoman said to Eze. “If I had known you were somebody’s husband, I would at least show you some respect, even if you are dressed like a prostitute.”

She waved them past.

“What the hell was that?” Eze said, angry. “What is her damned business? And why the story of the birthday?”

“If we are men who go to a club to celebrate a birthday, it’s more respectable than just being men who go to a club to have fun.”

“What the hell.”

“The police are terrible. They recently sodomized a group of men coming back from a club. Sodomized them with sticks.”

“Oh, God,” Eze said. His club high had dissipated, his face sunken.

“You know,” Eze said, as they got to the gate of Obinna’s home, “that life you invented for me for the policewoman, it might be nice. Me married with a wife in Abuja. Abuja means she’s rich and successful, right? And I take weekend trips to Lagos to party with my boy. It might really be nice.” Eze was smiling wanly, and Obinna suddenly felt sorry for him.

Inside the house, Obinna went straight to the children’s room. He turned on the light and looked at the bunk beds. Both the top and bottom beds were empty. He ran into the room and pulled at the covers to be sure. His chest swelled with panic. He ran to the bathroom, but it was dark and empty. He ran to the guest room and that, too, was empty. He was shouting now, shouting the children’s names. He knew it. That houseboy had kidnapped the children. He knew he should not have gone to a club. He should not have. He ran to the other side of the house, where the houseboy’s room was, and Eze was behind him saying, “They can’t have left the house.”

He opened the door to the houseboy’s room, and there were the children, sprawled out and asleep on the floor, an iPad still flickering in front of them. The houseboy was asleep on a chair, snoring softly. Obinna touched the children and they both stirred but kept sleeping. His relief was so acute he felt a headache coming on.

“Emmanuel!”

Emmanuel rubbed his eyes and got up. “Welcome, sah.”

Obinna wanted to scold him but could not find the words.

“The children came to my room after you left, sah. They said they did not want to be alone, because you were not around.”

“They were sleeping when I left.”

“They were awake. They came to my room immediately after you closed the front door,” Emmanuel said, and Obinna heard an accusation in his voice.